Owyhee Dam

Owyhee Dam
View from the north
LocationMalheur County, Oregon
Coordinates43°38′31″N 117°14′33″W / 43.64194°N 117.24250°W / 43.64194; -117.24250
Construction began1928
Opening date1932
Construction cost$6 million
Operator(s)Owyhee Irrigation District (Operator)
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsOwyhee River
Height417 feet (127 m)
Length833 feet (254 m)
Width (crest)30 feet (9.1 m)
Width (base)265 feet (81 m)
Reservoir
CreatesOwyhee Reservoir
Total capacity1,183,300 acre-feet (1.4596×109 m3)

Owyhee Dam (National ID # OR00582) is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon near Adrian, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1932 during the Great Depression, the dam generates electricity and provides irrigation water for several irrigation districts in Oregon and neighboring Idaho. At the time of completion, it was the tallest dam of its type in the world (it was surpassed about two years later). The dam is part of the Owyhee Dam Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The dam impounds the river to create the Owyhee Reservoir, with storage capacity of nearly 1,200,000 acre-feet (1.5 km3) of water. The more than 400-foot (120 m) tall concrete-arch gravity dam is owned by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and operated by the Owyhee Irrigation District. Haystack Rock Road is carried over the 833-foot (254 m) long crest of the dam.